One would expect that the Super Bowl is the talk around the office space Toronto water cooler this week because the big game is this Sunday. But it is not the game everyone is talking about around our water cooler. It seems more people are talking about the epic Super Bowl commercials that will run on the U.S. feed (that most in Canada will not see) than the actual game. But some are talking about the sneak previews they are finding on the Internet.
The reason the U.S. spots are not shown in Canada is that the Canadian television network CTV has paid for the exclusive right to broadcast the Super Bowl in Canada. They make their money back by selling ad time, and advertisers buy in on the premise that all Canadians watching will see their ad instead of the epic American ones. But as one office space Toronto client pointed out, there are ways around seeing the Canadian commercials. It seem that if you are in a city like Toronto or another Canadian city that is close to the U.S. border, you can use a digital antenna to pick up the game over the air from the closest U.S. station that is broadcasting it.  In the case of Toronto, we can pick up WIVB – Channel 4  (the CBS affiliate in Buffalo), to catch the game.
For those without an antenna who use cable or satellite, they do not have the option of watching over the air. Luckily it was pointed out by another person who has office space for rent Toronto, that YouTube has a special channel set up called AdBlitz, that will be broadcasting the U.S. commercials shortly after they air during the game. This will work out well for those Toronto office space clients who do not want to move back and forth from the TV to the computer.
There is more hope for executive suites Toronto clients to see some epic commercials while watching the CTV feed in Canada on cable. It seems that some of the big American advertisers have also purchased ad time on the Canadian feed to showcase their commercials, including rumoured commercials from Blackberry that will run on the U.S. and Canadian feeds.. Additionally, some Canadian advertisers have also come up with their own epic Super Bowl commercials that will only run on the Canadian broadcast. Last year there was a Budweiser ad on the Canadian broadcast about a flash mob at a recreational hockey league game that went viral on the Internet. That feed rumours that there may be a few more Canadian-only epic ads that will run this year. Enjoy the game!